my arrival in Ceylon, partly by the help of the Dutch, partly
through the prizes we have taken, the squadron has been equipped for
six months' service, and I have rations of wheat and rice assured for
more than a year." This achievement was indeed a just source of pride
and self-congratulation. Without a port, and destitute of resources,
the French commodore had lived off the enemy; the store ships and
commerce of the latter had supplied his wants. To his fertility of
resource and the activity of his cruisers, inspired by himself, this
result was due. Yet he had but two frigates, the class of vessel upon
which an admiral must mainly depend for this predatory warfare. On the
23d of March, both provisions and stores had been nearly exhausted.
Six thousand dollars in money, and the provisions in the convoy, were
then his sole resources. Since then he had fought a severe action,
most expensive in rigging and men, as well as in ammunition. After
that fight of April 12 he had left only powder and shot enough for one
other battle of equal severity. Three months later he was able to
report as above, that he could keep the sea on his station for six
months without further supplies. This result was due wholly to
himself,--to his self-reliance, and what may without exaggeration be
called his greatness of soul. It was not expected at Paris; on the
contrary, it was expected there that the squadron would return to the
Isle of France to refit. It was not thought possible that it could
remain on a hostile coast, so far from its nearest base, and be kept
in efficient condition. Suffren thought otherwise; he considered, with
true military insight and a proper sense of the value of his own
profession, that the success of the operations in India depended upon
the control of the sea, and therefore upon the uninterrupted presence
of his squadron. He did not shrink from attempting that which had
always been thought impossible. This firmness of spirit, bearing the
stamp of genius, must, to be justly appreciated, be considered with
reference to the circumstances of his own time, and of the preceding
generations in which he grew up.

Suffren was born July 17, 1729, and served during the wars of 1739 and
1756. He was first under fire at Matthews's action off Toulon,
February 22, 1744. He was the contemporary of D'Estaing, De Guichen,
and De Grasse, before the days of the French Revolution, when the
uprising of a people had taught men how often i